Semaphore



Allg. 8A, R' S CUNARD V SEMAPHORE Filed Feb. l0, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 8, 1933. R s CUNARD y 1,921,349

SEMAPHORE Filed F'eb. 10. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 8, `1932? j This invention is a semaphorer for Yuse upon motor vehicles to indicate to pedestrians and the occupants of other vehicles an intention tomake a right or left turn. A particular object of the 5 invention is to provide a novelrholder Ifora lamp or bulb which may be easily removed when necessary to renew the lamp.V Other objects'of theV f invention will appear incidentally in thecourse of the following description, and the invention resides in certain vnovel features which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings, v

Figure 1. is a perspective view of afportion of Van automobile having my semaphore'mounted thereon,

Fig. 2 is a View, partly in elevation and partly in section, on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,/ y Y l Fig. 3 is a view, partly in' plan and partly in horizontal section, on'the line 3*-3 of Fig. 2.V i Fig. 4. is a detail section' onlthe line Lit-4.01?

Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a-sec andi The automobile may beof any known or approved design and it isintended that the'device of the .present invention be `mounted upon the body' of the Vehicle at a pointrwhere it maybe convenientlymanipulated by thechauffeur. In carry-ing out the invention, there'is provideda basebracket -1 having a web tot'againstj the innerside of the front post'2 of the` vehicle body immediately adjacent the windshield frame, and another web disposed at a right vangle to the iirst-mentioned web to extend inwardly fromthe post 2. This base bracket is secured to the post bybolts 3 inserted through thepost and' through the upper and lower ends of the bracket,- and these bolts also serve to securer a second bracket 4y against the outer side of the post.V The brackets are-each provided with an opening 5 through `its y basal web, and an opening 6 is formed through the vpost in alinement with the openings 5 for a Vpurpose which will presently appear. PVoted'` to the bracket 1 is an operating leverv '7, and the edge of the supporting web of the bracket -is formed on an arc concentric with the pivot or fulcrum 8 of the lever. The lever is formed with alateral extension 9 and may be'stamped from sheet metal, a tongue 10 being struck from the lever and bent into angular form so as to engage the edge of the supporting bracket, as shown most clearly in Fig. 5, whereby the lever will be Fig. 7 is adetau section anni@ une '1 -'1 kof 'on on theline 5,--5 of Fig. 2, r Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6of Fig.4v 2,

Y, Applicationrebrirary 10, iqgzrQ seiialvno. 592,157 v.

2 Claims.l Y(Cl. '11e-54) setting lever.

4h eldto the bracket as it is turned to set the; signal arni'lin a desired position. The plate-like'lateral extension 9 of the lever is formed with an opening 11 therethrough, andguiding lips 12 are struck from the lever atthe Asides of said opening -Whereby to guide a flange 13 formedV at the end of a latch -14 whichv ispivoted upon the lever. and is spring-pressedtowardthe lever, as shown in Figs. v Sand 5.' The'lever and-.the latchv are provided with mating lugs or ears 15 on their opposed faces, 6.5 and ar pivot;16 is iitted through these lugs ,or rears to connect the latch to ytheflever, avspring 17 lbeing coiled around .thek pivotA and having its ends bea-ring against the opposed -facesi of the lever andthe latch,lrespectively. TheI bracket 70 1 is provided with openings, one ofj which is shown 'at-18 in Fig. 6, vand lips"V 19 are formed, on the bracket at the sides .of the openingsvwhereby when-the locking lip 1310i the latch is Y permitted to enterthe opening 11,in the .lever it will also enter the adjacent opening 18 inthe bracket and Y thereby lock thelever and the signal armin a set position;H It will, 'of course,y be understood that two or more openings are provided and they are y so located that whenthe lockingY lip is engaged infone of said openings the signal arm will be displayed in a horizontalposition to indicatefa turn to the left, and when another of saidopenings is engaged, the signal arm `,will be displayed in an oblique `downwardly extending positionto. `indicate a turnto the right. Normally, the arm f hangsvertically downward tov indicate that the vehicle ,is to travel kstraight ahead. `rI'he several vpositions of the signalarrn'are indicated in Figs. land 2 and wl be readily understood.V

- The signal arm 20 is hollow and preferably of elliptical l'cross section, as `shown in Fig.` 7. Itis formed of sheetmetal so as to attain strength Without excessive weight, and tapers inwardly, the'inner extremity of the arm being secured to 9.0 a rocker plate 21 which is pivotally mountedupon the bracket 4.at'the outer side of the` vehicle, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. vThe rocker plate 21 has 'Y an arcuate inner edge and is constructed to provide a groove or space, indicated vat 22, to receive` a cable 23 which passes through the openings 5-and 6 and is secured at its ends respectively to the rocker plate'21 and the extension 9 of the VThe ends of the cable may be [formed into loops, one loop being clamped tothe rocker plate 21 by a screw inserted therethrough,

as indicated at 24, and the other loop,` being engaged around a bent tongue 25 struck from the plate 9, as shownV inFig. 2, the cable passing through a lug 26 on the edge of the plate 9 so thatl it will be always held in alinement with the tongue 25, asv will be understood. The bracket 4, as

Y is exerted thereon to hold it in lsaid position, and

30struck therefrom. It will now be readily un ders'tood that when the signal arm is in its normal pendent position, the force of the spring 29 when the setting lever is swung downwardly, a

pull is exerted upon the cable 23 so as to swing the arm upwardly and thereby put ythe spring in the bracket l under the influence of the springV 17,so that the lever and the arm will be locked in the set position. When the lever is released and moved upwardly, the spring 29 acts r`upon the signal arm to lower thesaine and return it to its normal position. l I Ifheouter' end of the signal arm is formed into a rim `31 which receives a ilangeY 32 on a lid 33 which-is of proper outline telit' within the rim, will be'understood. A split ring 34 is engaged within the rim andover the 'flange so as to hold the lid in its position. This lid is indicated as consisting of a glass lens but it may be opaque and may ben of Vany material, as preferred. rLongitudinal'slots 35 are formed in the sides of the signal arm, and within the outer end of the arm is tted a basketor lamp holder 36 which correspends in its cross sectional contour to the cross section oi the arm so that it will iltsnuglywithin the arm and will beheld against turning. The outer end of this basket 'or lamp holder is open, whilethe innerend is closed by a web 37 having a'collar 38 formed thereon in which may be secured Va lamp socket, indicated` at 39. The lamp bulb 40 is tted in the socket 39 in the usual manner and may be an. ordinary bulb of the proper capactiy. In the side of the basket 36 are formed'slots 4l whichare arranged to aline with the slots 35 .in the sides of the arm, and at the upperand lower sides of each slot 41 is a slit or narrow slot 42. Celluloid strips 43 are disposedrover the slots 4l and have their edges inserted through the slits 42,'as will be understood upon reference to Figs. 2 and 7, so that they will be rrnly held in position and will serve as lenses to Apermit passage or" light from the lamp 40. These celluloid lens sheets may be'given any desired color to comply with traflic regulations. It willbe noted that when the lamp holder or basket 36 is in place, there will be a considerthe arm.

kOne end of the cable is carried through the side covered conductor 47 extends through an open- 90 Ying 48 provided therefor in the post 2 so as to jbe carried `to `the battery and this conductor is anchored' to an arcuate terminal 50 which is secured upon and insulatedk from the bracket 4 and upon which the plate 46 makes sliding contact, as shown inV Figs. 2 and 4. kThe opposite side of the'lamp circuit is grounded to the'seznal!` phore arinv which is also grounded to the bracket 4 and the lower securing bolt 3. A conductor 49 is fastened'to the V'bolt 3 and maybe grounded 100 at vany convenient point oi" the vehiole-bodyor Y frame. Y

i From the foregoing description, taken "in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that l have provided a very` simple, compact and easily manipulated signal Vby'which a motorist may easily indicate tov pedestrians and Vother motoristshis intentiony to depart froin a straight-ahead course, and the signal arm will be firmly held in the position in which itrnay llll Having thus described the invention, I claim? l. In a signal of the class described, a pivoted hollow signal arm tapering Vfrom its outeri end andprovided with fslots in its sides adjacent its 115 outer free end, a larnp holder htted within the outer end ofthe signal arni and frictionally held therein and provided vwith display'slots in its sides registering with the iirst mentioned slots and longitudinally extending slits at opposite Y -slots in the arm and the'inner'end ofthe holder extending acrossthe arrn,lsheet lenses on the lamp holder extending over the slotstherein, 1 a

lamp mounted in theinner end of the holder, 135,

anda conductor extending from the lamp within RUSSELL s. CUNARD.V n.. si 

